Connectors comprise a header for contact pins, normally referred to as a plug, and a housing for electrical contacts, called a socket, adapted for coupling to the plug. According to conventional designs, the contact pins are arranged along the connection face of the socket, of which the surface is substantially flat. The housing for the electrical contacts used as a counterpart of the header for pins has a connection face comprising one or more insertion holes arranged correspondingly to the contact pins. Such holes are normally funnel-shaped so as to facilitate insertion of the contact pins and are arranged on the substantially flat surface of the connection face of the housing for electrical contacts.
The thickness of the walls of the housing for electrical contacts is selected so as to meet specific requirements, such as resistance to mechanical and thermal stress, or other physical constraints. The thickness of the connection face of the housing for sockets known from the prior art normally varies approximately from 0.70 mm to 0.80 mm. In addition, when the socket and the plug of the connector are fully connected, safety protrusions prevent contact between the connection faces of the socket and of the plug. The distance between the connection face of the socket housing and the connection face of the plug housing may generally vary between 0.70 mm and 0.80 mm.
Normally, to ensure a secure, lasting connection between the contact pins of the socket and the electrical contacts of the plug, a minimum brush surface between the pins and electrical contacts is ensured. Generally, the minimum brush surface required is 1 mm. To obtain the minimum guaranteed brush surface between pins and electrical contacts, the header is designed so as to comprise pins having a length of approximately 8 mm or greater.
A disadvantage of the connector housings described above is that, to ensure a reliable connection between the electrical contacts and pins, the pins have to be extremely long. Pins of such dimensions are subject to excessive deflection during and after the connection process. This exposes the pins to stress, which could cause them to break and could also reduce the quality and reliability of the electrical contact. In addition, the effects of any errors in the angle of insertion of the pins increase with the length of the pins themselves. Consequently, the permitted tolerance of the connection of the connector has to be reduced considerably, which complicates, and therefore increases the costs of, the design of additional components of the connector, such as lever mechanisms used to push the header for pins toward its counterpart.